Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Last year on Halloween Holly lost her car keys. We searched the house up and down and could not find them anywhere. I am not sure of the exact chain of events but we learned later that she had dropped them in some kids bag in the process of giving out Halloween candy. A woman posted on Facebook about finding the keys and Holly ended up putting two and two together to determine they were hers. I am sure I am forgetting most of the amusing stuff but that is the general gist of what happened.

This year while getting Sophie dressed to go trick-or-treating, I could not find my keys. I looked everywhere. In fact I tore the house up trying to find the darn things. I had totally forgotten about what happened last year (thanks for reminding me Bryna!). Sophie's jacket was in the car and I did not want to risk her being cold while we were out. I eventually just grabbed a hoody for her and headed out door without a clue where the keys were.

Sunday morning I started looking for the keys. I knew they were at home because I had locked the car door then used them to get into the house. I sifted through the trash. Twice. I pulled the sectional apart and vacuumed all the nooks and crannies. I searched every drawer and turned out every pocket. No keys (I did get lots of cleaning in though).

Later that day Sophie told me she did something "so funny" that mommy was laughing. She whispered that in my ear over and over. I asked her what she did but she didn't want to tell me so I just let it go. Later that evening I asked Sophie if she knew where my keys were (I am not sure if I asked her specifically before then but I am sure she knew I was looking for them). She told me to look under the blanket in the computer room. Since I had no idea what she was talking about I made her come show me. We walked in. She pulled the blanket back from the chair. Voila... keys!

I asked her why she did not tell me earlier and she got embarrassed and burst out in tears. Eventually she told me she did it to make me laugh. I am not sure if it was Holly pulling the strings from above or if it was just some crazy coincidence that Sophie decided to do it on the same day as last year. Regardless, I sure hope this is not an on-going tradition.

Monday, November 2, 2015

Another holiday milestone passed without Holly. I have never been much of a Halloween guy. This year I just wanted to turn the lights off and crawl in bed. Had it not been for Sophie that is exactly what I would have done. My personal feelings aside, Sophie had a great time.

It was an unbelievably beautiful day here in Colorado Springs. Earlier Sophie had her final soccer game of the fall season. When we got home after the game I thought she looked a little under the weather. After a nap and a bath she seemed to recover so we dressed her up and headed out the door.

Our neighborhood has an unbelievable amount of trick or treaters. Hundreds upon hundreds of kids.

Last year Holly had bought Sophie a mermaid costume to wear. At the last minute Sophie decided she wanted to stay home and hand out candy so the costume went unworn. Fast-forward to this year, she wanted to be the mermaid. Being the strong-minded 5 year old that she is (read as occasionally stubborn), she refused to wear the crown or the necklace that went with the costume. The best she would let me do is a pony tail and an almost matching bow.

We probably stopped at 60 houses. Sophie was very good about saying thank you and happy halloween to everyone. She did however step into the house each time the door opened. She would just walk in the door (regardless of how many times I told her not to do it). I think she just wanted a better view of the candy to choose from. It was cute for sure but we had a talk later about going into strangers houses.

There was one house that went all out (and apparently they do it every year). They had several guys running around with chainsaws (minus the chain), a driveway full of fires burning, and fireworks launching into the sky from behind the house. Super impressive. Sophie was brave and got her candy even though she said the men were, "super scary."

It was hard to get a good photo in the dark but here were two of the "scary men".

All and all it was a fun night for Sophie. It was harder for me for sure. Holly always loved Halloween. Every year she would dress up in her Tigger costume when it was time to hand out candy. She looked so adorable. She had the costume for years even before I met her. Maybe going all the way back to high school? This year for the first time in a very long time it remained on the hanger unworn in our closet. I miss my Tigger.

I am as suddenly single daddy after the unexpected death of my amazing wife Holly. I am now raising our amazing 5 year old daughter on my own and doing my best to keep her hair from looking like a complete disaster each day. This blog is my way of remember moments with Holly so Sophie can someday have a written history of her mom who loved her more than anything in this world.